Baseball Blasts Stratford Academy, 13-1

Add in that it would be the first time in five years, and little needs to be done to get the players ready.

But the FPD Vikings (14-3, 6-3 Region 7-A) channeled their anticipation and walked away with a convincing 13-1 victory over the Stratford Academy Eagles (11-6, 5-5 Reg. 7-A) at the Bubber Adams Baseball Complex at Bobby Hendley Field on Thursday night, April 9 in Region 7-A play.

“This was an important win for our team,” FPD head coach Denny Bryant said. “It’s good to see our guys play well in a big game like this and for our offense and pitching to be clicking at the same time.”

The Eagles struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Will Herndon hit a sacrifice fly to score Jacob Culclasure for a 1-0 advantage.

But two innings later, the Vikings took the lead for good.

FPD’s Kendall Friar singled to score Will McCormick followed by a Daniel Weaver run on a passed ball.

“That inning helped us relax a little,” Bryant said. “We knew we were never out of the game but taking the lead allowed us to be more aggressive.”

Aggressive the Vikings were.

Over the next three innings, the Vikings plated 11 runs to run away with the win.

In the fifth inning, Austin Cox reached on a Stratford infield error to score Marshall Lyles for a 3-1 lead.

FPD pounded out 10 more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Cox (7-1) picked up the win on the hill for the Vikings, tossing six innings, allowing one run and striking out nine.

Stratford’s Jackson Pyles picked up the loss for the Eagles.

The Vikings return to action next Tuesday, April 14, hosting the Aquinas Fightin’ Irish at 5:30 p.m. at Ben Harden Memorial Field.

The First Presbyterian Day School Department of Athletics strives to build the student athlete both in the playing arena and the classroom while upholding the school’s mission statement to educate and equip students to change the world for God’s glory. For more information, visit www.fpdvikings.com and sign up for up-to-the-minute news and scores by following the Vikings on Twitter at @FPDVikingSports.

BOX SCORE:

FPD 13, STRATFORD 1

FPD 000-210-0(10) — 13-11-0
SEA 010-000-00 — 1-5-5

WP: Austin Cox (7-1). LP: Jackson Pyles.

2B: FPD – Austin Cox, Marshall Lyles, Daniel Weaver.

Game notes: Gavin Bloodworth, Cox, and Kendall Friar each had two RBI for FPD … Will McCormick was 3-for-4 with two runs for FPD … Will Herndon had one RBI for Stratford … Cox had nine strikeouts for FPD.